A lathe is usually provided with a bed, a headstock, a spindle, a tool rest etc. as main components, and as such a lathe, there has conventionally been, for example, a lathe as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-59301.
That is, this lathe is provided with a bed, a first headstock disposed on the bed, a first spindle supported by the first headstock so that it is rotatable about its axis and that its axis is horizontal, a first chuck attached to the tip of the first spindle for gripping a workpiece, a second headstock disposed on the bed so that it faces the first headstock and that it is movable in a first direction parallel to the axis of the first spindle, a second spindle supported by the second headstock so that it is coaxial with the first spindle and is rotatable about its axis, a second chuck attached to the tip of the second spindle for gripping a workpiece, a first tool rest which is disposed on the bed so that it is movable in the first direction and in a second direction perpendicular thereto and to which tools are mounted, a second tool rest which is disposed on the bed between the first headstock and the second headstock so that it is movable in the first and second directions and to which tools are mounted, a rotation drive mechanism for rotating the first spindle about its axis, a first feed mechanism for moving the second headstock, a second feed mechanism for moving the first tool rest, a third feed mechanism for moving the second tool rest, and other components.
In this lathe, for example, both ends of a workpiece are gripped by the chucks or one end of a workpiece is gripped by the first chuck, and the workpiece gripped in this way is machined by tools mounted to the first tool rest and the second tool rest.